


Legend of the Stone

by AzuraStark_Laufeyson



Series: The Sacred Artifacts Quadrilogy [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-07-25 11:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16196711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraStark_Laufeyson/pseuds/AzuraStark_Laufeyson





	1. Abandoned and Adopted

The full moon hung in the night sky as a vehicle was on its way to SHIELD. The parents got out of the car and placed their baby at the doorstep only to leave a minute later. The door opened to reveal the infant. “Where did you come from little one?” Agent Phil Coulson asked as he picked up the baby. She was still asleep and he noticed a note that was tucked in the basket. Please take care of her, her name is Azura was all the note said and Coulson took her in. He walked down the hallway to find Director Fury to tell him about the new arrival. Director Fury saw the bundle in Agent Coulson’s arms and wondered what to do with someone so young. He read the letter and looking out the window, he saw that it was still dark outside. He managed to find a room for her and had Maria to find everything that a growing child needs.  
5 years had passed and Azura, with her raven's wing colored hair almost to her shoulders and topaz gold eyes had the normal childlike sense of curiosity, was going through her first day of training. The training room was huge with gray walls and a gray ceiling but the floor was like black marble. What she didn't know was that Clint Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye, and Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a Black Widow, were watching her. Be the animal and you will become the animal she thought and with little thought, she transformed into a black cat. The celebration was cut short because of a new arrival. The new arrival was the young billionaire Tony Stark, he was here since he had from Pepper that SHIELD had a new agent. He saw the newest addition was only a 5 year-old and it tugged at his heart to learn that the child was an orphan.  
He got the adoption papers and immediately adopted her. Her name was now Azura Stark and she was amazed that someone wanted to give her a home. Pepper wasn't mad and thought it would do him some good. Another 8 years had passed and she was now 13 years-old. Her hair was longer and up in a ponytail but she never lost that sense of curiosity and even gained a sense of humor to rival her dad's. She knew that Tony was going on a trip to the Middle East and wanted to wish him luck. Hearing the news that he was missing was like a slap to the face but she waited since James “Rhodey” Rhodes was on the way to bring him home. Pepper told her that he was home, and she ran into her dad's arms once he was home safely. She knew something was wrong so each night, she transformed into a German Shepherd and followed Tony almost everywhere.  
He told her about the Arc Reactor keeping him alive and he knew that she understood him. He made the first Iron Man suit but there were a couple of bugs. Finally the MK II was made and it was just in time since Obadiah Stane had made his Iron Monger. Luckily, Azura had more animal forms in her Form Vault. The Form Vault was a memory storage of all the animals an Animorph, the term Coulson came up with, has seen. Transforming into a midnight purple landwyrm, a wingless subspecies of dragon, she kept Obadiah at bay long enough for Tony and Pepper to overload the Iron Monger’s systems. They weren't expecting a visit from Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko. She was ready to fight Vanko alongside Rhodey and her dad.  
It was at least a week or so after that fight when Azura was chilling at home and when she heard JARVIS “Miss Stark, there's an Agent Coulson on the line.” he said and she picked up. “We might have something that's up your alley.” he said “Where?” she asked “New Mexico.” was the reply  
“I'm in!” she said. She went to find her dad, who was in his lab working on new suits. He looked up to see her at the door and smiled.  
“What's up Kiddo?” he asked  
“I got a mission in New Mexico.” she said  
“That's pretty good, when are you leaving?” he said “As soon as I can.” she said. He got up and hugged her, she hugged him back.  
“Take care okay?” he asked and she nodded. Transforming into a Peregrine Falcon, she alighted on his arm so he could carry her outside.  
Once outside, she spread her wings and he gave her a little scratch on her head before launching her into the air. He smiled with pride as he watched her soar into the air and take off towards New Mexico. The cool air felt amazing on her feathers and she knew she was in the right place when she saw the SHIELD SUVs. “Sorry I'm late, Agent Coulson.” she said through telepathy. Landing on a catwalk before transforming back into human form. She always had her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face but her outfit was a pair of hiking boots, dark blue denim jeans, and her favorite T-shirt that had a picture of a dragon wrapped around a crescent moon. Coulson told her about their find and led her to it. What she didn't know, was that she was being followed by a young man with raven hair and emerald green eyes.  
“What do you think?” he asked once they arrived and she was amazed at the sight of the crater. She saw the hammer in the middle but couldn't believe her eyes.  
“I have to talk to our guest so I'll leave you to it.” Coulson said and left the crash site. She was mentally taking notes about the hammer when she noticed the runes on the top of the hammer. What the hell? She thought and tried to lift it but it didn't budge so to make matters worse, she slipped in the mud and landed on her backside.  
“Son of a bitch!” she said  
“Need some help, miss?” a voice said above her and looked up to see that she wasn't alone. “Yes, please.” she said and he held out a hand which she took and he helped her up.  
“Thank you, um?” she said not knowing her helper’s name.  
“You're welcome, and it's Loki.” he said placing a kiss on the back of her knuckles.  
"Azura.” she said although she was a little shocked.  
“I look forward to seeing you again.” Loki said and he left.  
After she investigated the hammer, she wanted to know more about the person she just met. Agent Coulson found her and told her that she had a new assignment so she didn't get a chance to see him again. Thor and Loki had their fight but the younger prince had enough and fell. Azura managed to keep her dad up to speed on what's going on but she was certain that something was wrong. She was a SHIELD facility trying to help figure out how to obtain power from the Tesseract, a blue cube that was found with Captain America, for a project. She got to work with Erik Selvig, who she met when Thor was on Earth. She was checking the status on the Tesseract, when Fury and Hawkeye got a closer look. “Doors open both ways.” Hawkeye said and at that moment, the Tesseract was waking up. A portal disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, her eyes widened as the portal revealed Loki. He looked different but somehow she knew that he was still the same.  
“Stand down, fellas. I got this.” she said and the guards stood back. Loki stood up and his sight fell on her once he heard her voice.  
“Azura?” he asked and she nodded. She got a good look at his face and noted that his skin was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, he was also sweating for some reason. What the hell happened to you? She thought but once getting the Tesseract, they headed out. Luckily, there was enough room in the bed of the truck. While in her favored German Shepherd form, she sent a mental apology to Fury. They stopped at an abandoned train station and started setting everything up. Azura stayed in her German Shepherd form for a little longer and even checked on Selvig and Hawkeye. She knew something was wrong so she went to check it out and found that it was Loki. He had finished his conversation with the one sent him by the time she got there.  
He looked to see who was there and saw Azura sitting on her haunches with a worried look on her face. He smiled and patted his leg making Azura walk up to him. He scratched behind her ears and that caused her tilt her head and her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth. She sniffed his face and gave him one lick before holding out her paw. As he stood up, so did she but she was transforming back into human form. They went inside to check on everything and Selvig told them that he needed iridium and the only source was in Germany. Azura didn't know that Natasha, Steve, and her dad were on the way as well. Loki was in his suit and the sound of clicking heels behind him made him turn to see that Azura was in a green dress and gold heels. Offering his hand he led her down the stairs so they can cause a distraction.  
Getting outside was no trouble but the sound of the Quinjet made her look up. Great, now I'm in trouble she thought once she saw her dad arrive.  
“What happened?” her dad asked “I'll tell you about it later, I promise.” she said and they got in, Natasha had a spare set of clothes for Azura to change into and faced her dad.  
“I got assigned to another mission and I didn't have a chance to call and give you an update.” she said and Tony calmed down  
“Ok, just don't do it again.” he said  
“I'll try my best.” she said grinning. Loki grinned to see that she and her dad had a better family dynamic that he and his father. Hearing an incoming storm made everyone jump and they weren't expecting Thor to show up. Transforming into a Cerberus, she lept after Thor with Cap and her dad right behind her. They fought a little and made it onto the Helicarrier, Azura transformed back into human form and followed Director Fury.  
“I'd figured there was a reason why you left and I'm not upset.” he said and he left the two of them alone.  
“I was wondering when we get some time alone.” Loki said and she smiled.  
“What happened to you?” she asked  
“I fell from the Bifrost and a person named Thanos found me.” he said “He tortured me and he said that if I didn't take over one Earth city and give him the Tesseract, he would find you and kill you.” Azura's heart felt like breaking in two hearing his words and she thought of a plan. She left hoping that this plan would work, she told the team and they wanted to help her. What they didn't know, was that Thor was getting an update on his mission. Transforming into a midnight purple dragon, Azura took to the skies to participate in the fight. She sent a blast of black and red flames at a Chitauri Leviathan but its armor was too dense. Hearing the news about a nuke, made her spur into action even more. Taking the nuke from her dad and using another set of wings, she headed towards the portal.  
“Don't do it!” she heard Loki say but she was determined to do this.  
Flying into the portal, she faced the remaining armada and sent the nuke their way with a flick of her tail. She grinned and flipped them the bird with her fingertip on fire before somersaulting so she could dive out of the portal nose first. “Close it Nat, I'm out!” she said and started banking towards Stark tower. She transformed back into human form and was immediately wrapped into a tight embrace by Loki. She hugged him back and turned to see that the team had showed up. They headed to the park but Thor had only taken the Tesseract which caused some confusion. “He has been banished here on Earth but placed under supervision.” the God of Thunder said and headed back to Asgard.  
“Well, that was unexpected.” Clint said and watched as everybody left. Azura and Loki headed back to Stark Tower to help out with the repairs and she was surprised that Thor changed his mind but she was happy nonetheless.


	2. The Move

A couple of years had passed since the attack on New York and Loki was placed on house arrest. The team had gotten bigger adding James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, a.k.a the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson, a.k.a Falcon, Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a Scarlet Witch, Vision, Peter Parker, a.k.a Spider-Man, T’Challa, a.k.a Black Panther, Doctor Stephen Strange, and Scott Lang, a.k.a Ant-Man. Vision was created by fusing Vibranium and the Mind Stone, Wanda had developed her powers from being exposed to the Mind Stone while Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider, Scott could shrink to the size of an ant which was helpful most of the time. Stephen was a Master of the Mystical Arts but that did cause some rivalry between him and Loki. So, it was up to Azura to find help for the move. She managed to get Peter, Stephen, Bruce, and Steve to help out since Tony and Loki were already there. Tony was building a moving robot to help out and was about finished when he saw Azura's shadow fly by the window.   
She landed on her special platform and transformed back into human form to see that Tony was in the bar getting a drink. Looking outside, she shuddered as she remembered the attack. “Welcome back baby girl!” Tony said and she waved heading inside to see what's going on. Thor, Wanda, Natasha, Clint, T’Challa, Sam, Rhodey, Scott, Vision, and Bucky were called on a mission so they were lucky with the ones that were left. Tony finished his drink and went back to his lab to do more packing. All of his tech were wrapped with care and carefully placed in the boxes. “Azura, can you come down to the lab real quick?” Tony asked over the intercom and she headed that way.   
“What's up, Dad?” she asked and he pointed to his small collection of cars. With Bruce’s help, they pushed each car outside to where Azura was waiting in her dragon form. This dragon form was the biggest one she's ever pulled off at 65 ft. in length and weighing a whopping 125 tons.   
Her obsidian black talons were trimmed and she waited while a special harness was being strapped to her back. The harness was to make sure that she can carry two cars at a time. She launched herself into the air and headed towards to the Compound where Steve and Peter were waiting for her. “Holy smokes! That's pretty cool!” Peter said as she laid down for them to get the cars out.   
“Next batch, hon.” Steve said and off she went, she repeated this at least two more times and all the cars were delivered. On her way home with Steve and Peter on her back, she spotted something in the woods for like a second before it left.   
What the hell was that? She thought but remembered that she had to get back and continued the journey. She landed on her landing pad and crouched so her passengers could get off. Transforming back into her human form, she felt like she'd been backhanded by Obadiah and his Iron Monger.   
She decided to use a mix a of cherry blossom scented bath bomb with some lavender scented Epsom salts. The water was nice and warm when she climbed into the tub. She felt all of her tense muscles relax and let out a sigh of relief. She finally decided to get out of the tub and dry off. Changing into her pajamas, which consisted of a tank top of Jack Skellington standing near a tombstone and pants of Jack with multiple expressions, they were a gift from Pepper, who fueled Azura's liking of director Tim Burton. She even had a plush toy of Jack that Tony had gotten her for her birthday. Loki had came in the room and saw that she was already asleep holding her Jack plush. He smiled knowing that someone who was full of sass and can kick some ass have a soft spot that's rarely seen. He climbed in bed next to her and looked up at the ceiling for a second before closing his eyes to get some sleep. Azura, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky with her sleep.   
The sun was shining overhead and Azura was 6 years-old and was playing with her friend Monica Darrens. The girls were playing tag and they were unaware of the uneven cliff and Monica stepped in the wrong place and started falling, Azura was trying to get to her but she wasn't quick enough “Monica!” she called at the same time as sitting up in bed with her arm stretched out like she was trying to grab something. Loki was wide awake and looking around for the lamp on his side of the bed. Turning the light on, he saw that Azura was sitting up and drenched in a cold sweat. “Azura, what's wrong love?” he asked and she turned to see that he had a concerned look on his face.   
“It was a nightmare of my friend's accident when I was a kid.” she said “What happened?” he asked “I was six and we were playing near a cliff, but I wasn't sure about a weak spot and she fell.” she said “I tried to help her but I wasn't fast enough.” Loki wrapped his arms around her and she calmed down.   
They went back to sleep and no more nightmares plagued her mind for the rest of the night. The next morning, it was back to do some more packing. Tony had packed some of his tech and it was already strapped on Azura's back. She took off and delivered the tech and she even set some of it up. She went back to Stark Tower to get more tech delivered. The tech was finally delivered and now it was time to pack up the clothes and other stuff. Bruce had helped move some of the heavy stuff, Stephen also placed some of the boxes where they needed to go, Steve and Tony were placing the boxes in his new lab when he heard a vehicle pulling into the driveway. It turned out to be Azura and Loki in her 2016 Land Rover LR4, with some of their packed clothes. Steve was helping getting the dishes and silverware unpacked when he saw them picking a room.   
The move was finally over with and everybody was relaxing. The sound of steaks cooking filled the room and Azura sighed at the smell. Without warning, her eyes glowed for like a second before returning to normal. Ok, that was weird she thought but once the food was ready, she forgot about it even happening. Loki couldn't believe that he was part of the team since they knew his reason behind trying to get the Tesseract and the whole table treated him like family. He couldn't be any happier since Azura was sitting next to him. Out of nowhere, Bucky launched a tomato but his trajectory was a little off since it landed right on Natasha's plate. She knew where it came from and threw a carrot at the former Winter Soldier. Peter tried to throw a tomato but it wound up in Azura's shirt. Loki was the only one who noticed and he even picked it up with his teeth making her blush while her dad had a death grip on a knife.  
Steve was laughing at Tony's reaction but he knew it wouldn't last long since he saw how happy they were. Everything was cleaned up and everybody called a night, but Azura and Loki decided to lay in bed and talk. Azura finally got the courage to lay her head on Loki's chest. He wrapped an arm around her waist and he ran his fingers through her hair. “I'm so sorry.” Loki said and it made Azura look up at him in confusion for a second. “I didn't wait for you at the Bifrost and I thought something happened.” he said   
“I was called on another assignment.” she said   
“I'm not mad, I was just worried that something bad had happened to you.” he said   
“Nah, I'm a Stark so I land on my feet.” she said with a laugh which made him smile. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and turned off the light.   
They fell asleep holding each other and stayed like that until morning. She heard a knock on the door and went to open it. “Morning, kiddo.” Steve said   
“Morning, Steve what's going on?” she asked and checked the clock to see that it was 6 in the morning.   
“Sam, Bucky, and I were gonna go on a morning run and wanted to know if you wanted to come along.” he said   
“Sure, let me get dressed and I'll meet you outside.” she said and he let her close the door. Changing into a pair of grey sweatpants and a regular T-shirt, she headed outside to join them. They took off and Azura kept up with them pretty well and even passed Bucky. They got home and washed up just in time for breakfast. “Well, that was fun.” she said and saw that everyone was coming in for breakfast. Loki was the last one in the room but it looked like he was looking for something or at least someone.  
“There you are.” he said as he brought Azura into a hug.   
“Sorry, I should've left a note.” she said and he laughed a little.   
“Where did you go?” he asked   
“On an early morning run.” she said and he nodded. After eating breakfast, they all headed out to either clean, train, or whatever. Azura and Loki decided to head out into the city and have some fun. They went to her favorite book store and looked around. Azura spotted Wong and Stephen on the other side and waved. Wong waved back and also waved them over, they saw books on healing with crystals and other New Age books. Azura saw a book on aerial yoga and wanted to try it out. They left the bookstore and Azura felt like someone was following them. She looked across the street and saw a young woman standing there and pointed to a safe place.  
The woods were an easy place to talk without being overheard and big enough just in case a fight broke out. The woman lowered her hood to reveal sandy blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes.   
She turned to see that she was followed   
“It's been awhile, little Stark.” she said and Azura was a little confused.   
“How do you know me?” she asked   
“You've forgotten me, some friend you are.” the woman said and by the time, it was clicked in her mind she was almost sucker punched. Stephen had made a magical shield just in time.   
“It can't be her!” she said as she finally got into the fight. Transforming into a Velociraptor, she made a leap but she dodged just in time so Azura only scratched the tree behind her. Stephen and Wong tried to hold her down but that didn't stop her. While the fight was going on, Steve got an alarm and saw that it was Azura and her small group. Grabbing Thor and Clint, they headed their way to help. The mystery woman managed to jump over Stephen and pin Loki on his back. “We've missed you, Thanos sends his regards young Prince.” she said and was about to land a blow, when a smoke bomb came out of nowhere and she was knocked down by a familiar flying shield.   
“You guys ok?” Steve asked while catching his shield   
“How'd you find us?” Azura asked   
“The alarm went off just a minute ago and we came to help.” he said and saw lightning streak across the sky as Thor came barreling from the sky. The mystery woman looked up at the new arrival and glared. Clint had an arrow ready and was waiting for the right moment.   
“I'm surprised that you don't recognize me.” she said   
“Monica?” Azura asked and she nodded. Monica knew that she was no match for everyone there and high tailed out of there.   
“Damn!” Thor said as he watched her leave. Loki, on the other hand, was looking like he saw a ghost and passed out from the shock.


	3. Two Holidays Is Too Much

The group were facing Monica but due to Loki passing out, they had to call it a day. Transforming into her Velociraptor form, she went to make sure that he was alright. Thor helped him onto her back   
“Home’s not too far.” Clint said and she dashed away. Tony saw that the team was coming back and it wasn't looking good. He got the doors opened and she made it to the med room and waited. Stephen came in and he helped her with getting him onto the bed.  
“What happened?” Tony asked as he walked in,   
“It was Monica, for some reason she's back and she must've said something that made him pass out.” she said and Tony looked dumbstruck   
“Monica? There's no way she's back.” he said   
“I know what I saw Dad, it was her!” Azura said and then transformed back into human form.   
Loki finally woke up and looked around to see that he was at the Compound in the med room. “Are you ok, love?” Azura asked “I'm fine.” he replied. She helped him out of bed and made sure that he was alright to be on his feet. He was fine after a couple of minutes and headed into the kitchen to find some food. Azura followed a second later and sat on the back of the couch. A set of cat ears and tail had shown up as a telltale that Azura was concerned and it got worse when her tail started swishing back and forth. Her ears flattened against the top of her head and as soon as Loki turned around, the ears and tail went away. What they weren't expecting was for Peter to sneak up behind her and yell “Boo!”. She not only jumped into the air, but also transformed into a black cat and screeched as she sunk her claws into the ceiling.  
“What the hell?” she asked   
“It's that time of year, Sis.” Peter said as she let go of the ceiling and landed in Loki's waiting arms. She hissed at Peter and her tail was all puffed up but calmed down when Loki started petting her. She climbed up his arm and draped herself around his shoulders and rubbed her face against his cheek. He smiled and they went to find Tony. He was in his lab repairing his suit and he looked up to see that Azura and Loki were in the doorway.   
“What's up guys?” he asked   
“Just needed a break for a while.” Loki said and Azura nodded.   
“Wait, did Peter scare her?” Tony asked and his only reply was an angry meow. He raced to the calendar and saw that Halloween was right around the corner.   
“Halloween is coming up!” he said and he instantly regretted saying it when he saw the grins on Loki and Azura's faces.  
A couple of weeks had passed and it was Halloween, Tony had decorated the whole Compound while Steve and Bucky had decorated the outside. Everybody had dressed up with Tony as a vampire, Steve as a mummy, Bruce as a mad scientist, Peter as a zombie, Bucky as a pirate, Clint as Robin Hood, Natasha as Maid Marian, Wanda as a witch, Vision as a FBI agent, Sam as a pilot, Azura as a werewolf and Loki as a monster hunter. They had a movie marathon and everybody had their picks. Some were horror-comedies like Idle Hands others were actual horror movies like House on Haunted Hill. Sweeney Todd was the last one played before Clint said that it was time for food. There was even a Halloween themed cake which Azura had no problem with taking a piece of it and then instead of handing it to Loki, she covered his face with it.  
The others started laughing but she knew that she was in trouble as soon as he got the icing off of his face. He gathered some of the icing in his hand and smeared it onto her face. The party was over as soon as the clock struck midnight, the guys went to bed while Loki stayed up to take a shower. Azura had washed her face in the kitchen since she wasn’t sure if she should hop in the shower before or after Loki. She changed into her newest set of pajamas which was a pair of black sweatpants and a T-shirt of Pennywise the Clown from It with the saying “You’ll float too” it was a gift from Peter for her birthday since he saw her collection of Stephen King books and had a shelf that had movies that were based on the books. She crawled into the bed and grabbed her Jack plush. Loki came out of the bathroom and saw the she was already asleep. He finished drying off and wore a simple green shirt with black gym pants.   
He crawled in bed next to her but he wasn’t ready to go to sleep so he grabbed her copy of Pet Sematary and picked up where he left off. He looked up to see that the bookshelf also had books by Darren Shan, Julie Kagawa, Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, and Charlaine Harris. He even brought some books from Asgard and added them to the collection so it was a mix of both worlds. He knew that she liked to listen to music while trying to sleep so grabbing the remote to the radio off of the nightstand, he turned on the radio and was playing the soundtracks of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She even had the soundtracks to The Hobbit trilogy, Sweeney Todd, It, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride. He finally felt sleepy and after marking his place, he turned off the lamp. He fell asleep holding her and was still unsure on how lucky he was.  
Azura was deep asleep but Loki wasn’t so lucky with his sleep. He looked around to see that he was back at Project Pegasus and looked to see the Tesseract. Fury and the others weren’t there but Azura was. He grabbed it and was about to put it in a specially made briefcase but he got an idea. “This might give you a power boost for the upcoming fight.” he said and once she held it, she felt her energy being drained instead of being boosted. He realized that he made a mistake and managed to hold onto her “Please, don’t go.” he begged “Please, don’t go.” but she was gone and he let out a cry of loss, her body disappeared and Thor showed up and he had a stern look on his face.  
“Brother, I’m here to bring you in for not only trying to take the throne but also all the lives you took.” he said and had placed in the same cell that was on the helicarrier before Tony showed up and he wasn’t happy.   
“My own kid for God’s sake! You were supposed to love her! I hope you can live with what you’ve done since I don’t consider you family anymore.” Tony said and he left leaving Loki broken “I never meant for any of this to happen! Please, forgive me!” he said before waking up and looking around in a panic.   
Azura woke up and saw Loki was looking like he’d seen a ghost,   
“What’s wrong?” she asked before she felt him wrap his arms around her and placed his chin on her shoulder.   
“I had a nightmare.” he said. She heard the fear in his voice and she rubbed his back to help calm him down. She kissed the top of his head and he looked up so they can share a kiss. Loki deepened the kiss while his hands roamed her body as she explored his.The longer they kissed, the hungrier for each other they became. Both Loki and Azura moaned softly as they kissed each other. Soon they were down to their underwear and Loki slid his hand up Azura’s back, unclasping her bra.Then, Loki began taking his kisses from her lips, to her jaw and then to her neck, causing sighs of pleasure to escape Azura. His mouth met with her breasts and Azura’s toes clenched in response. Loki’s blue eyes peered up to Azura.   
“Is this okay?” Loki asked, his voice gentle.  
“Yes, it felt good.” Azura smiled and Loki returned the gesture.  
“Loki?” Whispered Azura.  
“Yes, my dear?”   
“This is my first time.” Loki nodded understandably.  
“It's mine too, I'll be gentle.”  
“Thank you.” Loki moved from her breasts, kissing her stomach whilst he removed the remainder of her underwear. He brought his lips to her center and Azura let out a gasp, followed quickly by a moan. As Loki pleased her, Azura grabbed the bedsheets beside her. Loki’s lips met with Azura’s again and she removed Loki’s boxer shorts, his length springing free.  
“Are you ready?” He asked, stroking her hair.   
“More than ever.” She smiled up at him.Loki pushed forward gently, both he and Azura moaning in pleasure as their bodies became one. Azura experienced little pain at first but it soon eased and it soon became enjoyable. They kissed passionately and Loki let out the occasional wild groan. Soon, Azura released beneath him, her breath rapid and tingles all over her body. Loki followed shortly after, his thrusts became slower and deeper. He collapsed on top of her and she could feel his warm breath on her neck. He panted for a little before beginning to breath regularly again.They fell asleep holding each other and didn’t wake up until the next morning. FRIDAY was quiet which was odd, since she always woke everyone up in the morning but the AI knew that Azura and Loki needed their sleep. No one even knocked on their door since they thought that they stayed up all night talking. Azura’s phone buzzed so she did a partial transformation into a cat so she can grab her phone with her tail. “Breakfast is ready when you guys finally wake up.” it was a text from her dad telling them that it was time to wake up.  
After celebrating Thanksgiving, it was now December and everybody was making their lists. Wanda, Maria, and Natasha went to have a girls day out while Steve, Peter, Loki, and Azura went to hop in her car. She had nicknamed her Land Rover LR4, Obsidian, due to the black paint. Steve and Peter got into the back seat while Loki got into the passenger seat. Azura hopped into the driver’s seat and waited for Natasha and her group to leave to make sure that it was safe before she pulled out of the garage. Tony, Bruce, Bucky, Vision, Rhodey, Stephen, T’Challa, Okoye, Nakia, Shuri, Thor, and Scott had stayed behind so they can decorate the place but Tony and Happy went to go find a tree.   
They found a Douglas Fir and got started decorating it. Natasha, Wanda, and Maria were at a cafe thinking about how Azura’s group were doing. They made it to one of the malls in New York and each one had their own lists of people that they were shopping for. Azura had made an AI that could rival FRIDAY and Karen but this one she named Gabriel and once they were parked, she went to activate it. Her radio screen was saying that the download was at 50%, finally a beep sounded to signal that the download was complete. “Well, hello there and who is the good looking one riding shotgun?” a voice said and it made Loki nearly jump out of his chair.   
“What the hell was that?” Steve said while looking around  
“My name is Gabriel and I’m an AI created by Miss Stark.” Gabriel said  
“Hi, Gabriel. I’m Peter Parker.” Peter said  
“Hello, there.” Gabriel said  
“Hello, Gabriel and the one riding shotgun is Loki and he’s mine.” Azura said  
Gabriel giggled and they headed into the store to get what was on their lists. They got everything on their lists but there was one problem: The people on each list were the same people that were in the store. Peter had some of his Spider Trackers on the others so he checked his phone and saw that Steve was in the art store, Azura was in a DIllard’s, and Loki was in the Apple Store. Peter made it into a GameStop and found out that they were having a sale where it was buy one 25% off and get one free. Azura had moved from Dillard’s to Build-A-Bear and found plushies of both Toothless and the Light Fury. She walked out of the store and headed to GameStop for a gift for Peter. She got him Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy and headed to a used movie store and found a copy of The Patriot for Steve. She was done with her shopping and went to the food court to wait.  
Peter was done with shopping at GameStop while Azura was in Dillard’s and he managed to get Wolf Among Us and Game of Thrones for 25% off and got The Walking Dead Seasons 1&2 for free. He headed to a bookstore and found a book called The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe which he thought was perfect for Loki. He then went to a jewelry store and got Steve a necklace that had Saint Sebastian on it. Peter could feel eyes on him and looked to see that Azura’s eyes were glowing a little. He went to join her at the food court and he got a sub while she was eating some ramen. Steve was done at the art store and headed to another bookstore and got Inferno which was the last one in the Talon series that Azura liked. He even found a copy of The Odyssey for Loki. He found Peter and Azura in the food court and he grabbed a sub.  
Loki was the only one left shopping and he got Steve a paint set, Azura a copy of Timeline by Michael Crichton, and Peter a pencil and eraser set. He found them in the food court and they knew it was time to head home. Natasha and her group was back when they pulled into the garage, Azura had dividers in the back of the truck so everyone can keep their stuff separate when they were putting it in the truck. Azura then headed to one of the storage rooms and found some wrapping paper so she can get her wrapping done. When she was about to wrap of the plushie of Toothless is when Loki walked in the door. Her glowing eyes told him that he walked in at the wrong time and quickly walked out. She finally got the gift wrapped and managed to hide everything in her closet in a black container that was in a gun safe and placed a sticky note that said Keep out until Christmas! on the lid.  
Loki also had a similar container but his was green and his was under the bed in a floor safe. He wrapped his presents and placed the container back into the floor safe. The 24th had arrived and as soon as dinner was over, everybody went to their rooms and got their purchases. Each one had a code word that was to signal to another team member that it was their turn. Once everyone had placed their gifts under the tree, it was time for bed. Azura turned on the bed’s heater so they can keep warm through the night. In the morning, Peter came rushing down the hallway and saw that it was now Christmas morning before he went back down the hallway knocking on everybody’s door.   
Vision was awake and was busy making all kinds of breakfast bread; that were strawberry-banana, tropical, banana nut bread, and pumpkin. Wanda had made hot chocolate for everyone to go with their bread. Bruce had put on all the favorite Christmas specials to watch a couple while eating breakfast and the others were white noise when it was time to open all the gifts. Everyone enjoyed their gifts and Loki was surprised that Azura got him something. “It’s just in case I have to go on a mission” she said and held up her Light Fury plush “This is to help me sleep when I’m not here.”   
“Thank you, darling.” Loki said and gave her a kiss on the cheek  
“You’re welcome, love.” she said blushing a little  
They spent the rest of the day finishing the rest of the bread and hot chocolate while watching all the Christmas specials. Azura decided that it was her time to cook and she made roasted turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, and green bean casserole. There was even peach cobbler and pumpkin pie for dessert. Wanda brought out egg nog for everybody and she even made a special batch for the ones that could drink. Night had fallen and there were a few people that didn’t want to call it a night so Peter and Azura were on her Xbox One so they can play Wolf Among Us. Even Loki was amazed at the game and was curious on how people who are supposed to be fairytales walking around in New York. Azura gave him her collection of Fables comic books for him to read since the game was based on those comics. She knew that he was hooked since he asked if there were more and she said that she got all that were made.  
Peter smiled as he watched Azura show Loki her interests.


	4. Religion in the Shadows

The team had welcomed the new year without a problem but a week into February it was starting to go downhill. A team of Tony, Azura, Loki, Steve, Natasha, and Wanda were on their way to stop a spy for the Ten Rings that was hiding out somewhere. The Quinjet was upgraded with a stealth mode so they wouldn’t be detected. The hatch door was opened and they knew that it was go time.   
“You guys up for this?” Steve asked  
“Let’s do this Old Man.” Tony said   
“Ready, Steve.” Natasha said “We can do this.” Wanda said  
“I was born ready.” Azura said  
Loki nodded and Natasha put the Quinjet on Autopilot before standing on the open gate. They all took a running leap and was enjoying a free fall until Tony’s thrusters kicked in, Azura transformed into a Chinese dragon, Loki hopped onto her back while the others held onto her legs until they got closer to the ground. Everybody landed on the ground at the same time, Azura’s eyes scanned the area but she didn’t see anything. “I don’t see anyone.” Azura said and that’s when she heard some rustling up ahead and when they went to check it out. A masked person in a cloak had already taken out the person. The masked person waved them good-bye and ran off.   
“What in the hell was that?” Tony asked   
“Did someone just take out our target?” Steve asked   
“Go find out where that person went.” Natasha said and Azura transformed from dragon form into Velociraptor form and dashed away. She knew that from watching Jurassic Park that Velociraptors were clocked in at 60 mph but she knew that she could go faster. Clearing through the trees were easy and she managed to find the masked person. She skidded to a halt to find that person had disappeared. Damn! She thought and headed back, Natasha looked up to see that she was coming back but she had a sad look on her face. Transforming back into human form, Azura sat on a fallen log and exhaled.   
“I didn’t catch him.” she said  
“It’s ok sweetie.” Natasha and they headed home. Azura decided to hit the training room which was now modified with obstacle courses fitted to whoever was in the room at the time. She set it to her settings and ran through the course with ease. She turned it off and headed towards her room and filled the bathtub with a mix of Epsom salts and a strawberry scented bath bomb. She heard a knock on the door and opened one eye.   
“Come in.” she said and Loki stood in the doorway, with a slight surprised look on his face.   
“I was going to ask if I could join you.” he asked while turning his head to the side. She giggled and patted the water to say that it was okay and once she got a look she instantly regretted it since it was her turn to look away in embarrassment. He climbed into the tub and felt a rush of relief throughout his body. The silence was heavy in the air but it wasn't going to last for long.   
“I see that you and Stark get along well.” Loki said finally breaking the silence   
“Yeah, he's been my dad ever since I was 5 years-old.” she said   
“Really?” he asked   
“Yeah, I've never knew my parents. Natasha and Clint were like an aunt and uncle to me to be honest.” she said.   
“I take it that you know who your father is but not your mother.” He nodded   
“I'll tell you one thing, family is family no matter if you're related to them or not.” she said and Loki thought of his adoptive mother Frigga and knew that she was right. They got out and even though they did see each other, they were still nervous around each other. They quickly got dressed and headed out into the living room. Everyone was in the kitchen trying to figure out what happened today. Azura still felt like it was her fault so she decided to head out on her own, in choosing her Peregrine falcon form she took to the air. She saw that it was a false alarm but wasn’t expecting a sneak attack. She tried to fly away but a masked person hit her wing and that slowed her down but she wasn’t expecting to be caught by Stephen.   
He knew that they had two hours to fix the problem or she was going to be stuck like that. Her wing was fixed and she was able to transform back into human form. Her arm was healed and she decided to head home. She knew that the team was going to be mad at her for taking off on her own so luckily stopping in a tree, she transformed into a sugar glider. Bucky was outside taking care of a small garden when he spotted her in the tree. He held out his hand and she leapt into his open hand. “Welcome back, sweetie.” he said as she crawled up his arm and perched on his shoulder.  
He held up a piece of plum which she took and started nibbling on it when he got inside. Tony saw her nibbling on her piece of plum and started laughing. Her cheeks puffed up as she stuffed the rest of her plum in her mouth. She leapt from Bucky’s shoulder and landed in Tony’s hand before sniffing looking for food. Loki had walked into the room and tilted his head to the side to show his confusion.   
“Hi, baby.” she said using telepathy and leapt but instead of landing on Loki’s shoulder, she somersaulted in midair and landed on her feet in human form.  
“What was that little creature?” Loki asked  
“That was called a sugar glider, they have flaps of skin between their limbs so they can glide through the air.” Azura said and he nodded.   
“Where did you go?” Bucky asked  
“I went to find out where our mystery person had run off to but I didn’t find him.” she said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.   
“It’s ok, maybe we can find him some other time.” Tony said and she nodded. The next day, everybody decided on a day off which was needed. Peter was playing on Azura’s XBox One since he wanted to try her newest game Okami HD and he was doing pretty good until he got to one of the boss fights and was completely lost. Luckily, she had played it on the PlayStation 2 and beat the game so she helped him with the boss fight. He then decided to let her play on it and she decided to play another one of her favorite games Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition since Darksiders III was coming out soon and once she got to a stopping point, she managed to hook up her old Playstation 2 and went to play The Legend of Spyro Trilogy since Spyro: The Reignited Trilogy was coming out as well.   
Peter even tried the Spyro trilogy and was amazed at how easy some of the boss fights were. Azura shook her head as she watched Peter try and take out Cynder on A New Beginning since he was having a little trouble. She helped him put the PS2 up and hooked up the XBox again so she can introduce him to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Tony thought it was good idea to have another movie theme night and there was an actual vote. Steve wanted to pick musicals, Clint picked Action, Natasha wanted to do romances, Bruce was unsure, Bucky wanted to do comedies, but the vote went to Sci-Fi.   
Azura went to get all of her favorite Sci-Fi movies which was the whole Alien series including Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, the Predator series, and she even threw in the Men in Black trilogy to even out the scares. Once night had fallen it was time to call it a night, Azura stayed awake a little longer before finally falling asleep. The next morning wasn’t any better since they got another call in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The city was usually busy due to their Halloween tourism but it was still nice to see. They even had the statue of the Headless Horseman that was in the middle of being cleaned. It was out in the outskirts of town that was a recreation of the old Colonial village that the team found their target. They were there for like a moment or two, when another masked person decided to crash the party.  
They got home and while some were disappointed the others were mad. Azura decided to blow off some steam by borrowing one of Steve’s punching bags and had her iPod on her “Workout” playlist which consisted of a mix of Eminem, Five Finger Death Punch, Avenged Sevenfold, Lacuna Coil, Skillet, and Godsmack. Tony watched as she whaled on the punching bag, throwing everything into each punch until one punch sent the bag flying. Tony noticed that her eyes were glowing gold but her pupils were dilated into slits.   
“I think it’s time to call it honey.” he said and she knew that he was right.  
“Alright, Dad. I need to take a break anyway.” she said she put her “Workout” playlist on pause and placed the iPod in its charging dock. Dinner was a quiet affair but that’s what the team needed. It was Chinese night and Azura had managed to calm down enough to make a stir fry with egg rolls and there was even steamed dumplings.   
“This is amazing, Kid.” Steve said  
“You should open your own place.” Bucky said while Peter was nodding.  
“Oh, no I don’t think I could handle the pressure.” Azura said   
“What did you have in mind for your future?” Rhodey asked  
“I was supposed to be in charge of Stark Industries if Dad retired, but now I have no idea.” Azura replied which was true.  
“Well, you seem to have a connection with animals so maybe be a veterinarian.” Stephen said  
“That’s an excellent idea and then she can take care of animals both on here and on Asgard!” Thor said   
“I think we should talk about this group that keeps interrupting us.” T’Challa said  
“I agree with T’Challa, this group has been a problem lately.” Vision said and they all nodded. Stephen looked up just in time so see Wong coming their way.  
“I’ve got some information on this mystery group.” he said   
“We’re all ears.” Azura said  
“It’s a cult called the Serpent’s Fang and they’re said to worship a snake-like deity.” Wong said and that made the temperature in the room drop about 10 degrees. Wong gave Stephen all the information that he had on the group before leaving. It was silent for a moment “What are we gonna do?” Peter asked the one question on everyone’s mind.


	5. Showdown in the Rain

Stephen was reading the information that Wong gave him when he heard Peter’s question. “The only thing that I can think of is that we find out more about this cult and what they want.” he said  
“Hang on, there’s more on here.” Bucky said and pointed out a passage about the Elemental Stone.  
“What’s the Elemental Stone?” Steve asked   
“The Elemental Stone is a rare stone that gives the one who possesses it the ability to control the elements with ease.” a voice said which made everyone jump  
“Who the hell said that?” Tony asked  
“It’s the fabulous AI known as Gabriel!” Gabriel said and Azura didn’t realize that she had him activated.   
“So, where is the Elemental Stone?” Stephen asked   
“It’s in a city of supposed myth, Hamunaptra in Egypt.” Gabriel said and Stephen headed to the Sanctum for information on Hamunaptra and the Elemental Stone. Meanwhile, the cult was on their way to a meeting. The temple was huge but it was covered in all kinds of snake paintings and snake statues. There was even a statue of a snake that was poised to strike behind the altar. Each robe had the striking snake symbol on their back and each of them looked around to see who all was there. Monica looked around and waited for their leader to arrive. The cult leader finally arrived and together they mixed snake venom and acid. Each vial was filled and given to each member. Stephen couldn’t find anything on the city and he was starting to get upset.   
Seeing a shadow fly by the window lightened his mood and opened the window to see Azura come flying through. She was in the form of a red-tailed hawk and landed on one of his desks.  
“Hi, Stephen. How are you?” she asked while she ruffled her feathers  
“I’m fine and how are you doing?” he asked as he patted her head  
“I’m alright for the most part, I suppose.” she said and she looked at piles of books on another table and flew over. She spotted a book on ancient cities and figured out that he was one page off.   
“What did you find?” Stephen asked as he watched her flap her wings while she was trying to flip the page. He helped her flip the page and saw the passage on Hamunaptra that was giving him trouble. “I’ll send this info to the others as soon as I can.” he said and she nodded before taking to the air and flew out the open window. She returned home just in time to see everyone suiting up.  
“What’s going on?” she asked as she landed on the one of the chairs in the dining room.  
“We’re finally going to take the fight to the cult since Stephen finally found their location.” Steve said as he tightened the straps on his gloves. Bucky was adding more ammo clips to his bag when Azura flew back outside to transform back into human form.   
“So, where are they?” she asked   
“They’re in South America deep in the Amazon.” Natasha said and Azura knew that was quite the trip. They hopped in the Quinjet and they headed to South America. Azura was going through her Form Vault to think of what could be the perfect fighting form. She didn’t realize that she had added the form of a Phoenix into her Vault since she and Peter had a Harry Potter marathon a few weeks ago. She decided on her classic midnight purple dragon form and she laid down on the floor of the Quinjet. Tony knew that pose since that was the pose she always took when something was on her mind.   
“Something on your mind baby girl?” Tony asked   
“Yeah, I feel like this fight is going to be more than just a fight.” she said and he knew it was because that seeing Monica again really shook her up and now the cult was coming out of the shadows she wasn’t at the top of her game.   
“It’ll be ok, I promise.” Steve said and she stood up long enough to sit on her haunches, she ruffled her wings in anticipation. Natasha lowered the hatch on the Quinjet and out the team went. Tony landed first, followed by Steve, Peter, Bucky, and Azura with Loki on her back. The Amazon was as bad as everybody thought but they kept together since the place was huge. Peter stayed close to Azura since he’s never been out of the state of New York.   
“The cult’s temple is just on the other side of this river.” Steve said and watched as Peter webslinged to the other side. Steve found a vine and he used that to swing across even though Tony flew across while holding on to Bucky. Steve and Loki used a vine that the super-soldier had found to cross the river. Azura took a running start and looked majestic as she jumped the distance and landed without a problem. They found the temple and went inside quietly, Azura had retracted her claws so they wouldn’t click on the stone floor. They could hear the cult chanting up ahead and they continued their stealthy entrance. They watched as one of the cultists handed a knife to their leader and they made a ritualistic sacrifice.   
Tony looked at the team in horror “Oh, my God!” he mouthed and they were about to turn tail when Bucky accidentally kicked a rock. They all found hiding places but someone managed to find them and a fight broke out.  
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” Monica said as she blocked Azura’s claw swipe  
“I’m going to end this once and for all.” Azura said. A few cultists had run from Tony’s repulsor blasts, Steve knocked out a few others, Bucky knocked out more, Natasha grabbed the dagger, and Loki was about to finish off his attacker when the person threw something into his face. His scream of pain was the only thing that distracted Azura long enough to transform back into human form and run to him.   
“Loki, I’m here what happened?” she said  
“Threw something in my face and it’s burning.” he said   
“Let me look, please love?” she said and he let her slowly lower his hands. She saw the damage, his once beautiful emerald green eyes were now dull and grey while the area around his eyes were red.  
“What happened?” she asked   
“It was a combination of snake venom and acid.” he said   
“I promise to fix this, I swear.” she said and he hugged her close. She changed her draconic appearance to where she had horns that curled upwards. Loki held onto one of the horns and she led him out of the temple. She kept a steady pace acting as a seeing-eye dragon until they got to the river. Steve and Bucky had an idea, they knocked over four trees while Tony tied them together with some vines. They had made a bridge and Azura made a sound that sounded like a chirp so she could Loki know that it was safe to cross as long as he held onto her. They took a slow pace across since they weren’t sure if the bridge was going to hold their combined weight. They finally crossed the bridge and to make sure that the journey went more smoothly, Tony helped Loki onto Azura’s back. She made sure that he was safe so she wrapped her tail around him while he still held onto her horn.  
They made it the Quinjet and Azura lead Loki to his seat but he wanted to sit next to her on the floor. She placed her head in his lap and she started purring as he rubbed her neck. The Quinjet finally landed back home, Azura stood up and steadied Loki with her tail as he tried to stand. He held onto her horn as she led him inside. Stephen saw that they were back but once he saw the way that they acted he was instantly concerned.   
“What the hell happened?” he asked  
“A member of the cult threw a mix of snake venom and acid in his face.” Azura said as she sat down and Loki let go of her horn now that he had a chair to sit in. Stephen saw the damage up close and he was unsure that it could be reversed. Azura transformed back into human form and placed a hand lovingly on Loki’s shoulder.   
“Can it be fixed, Stephen?” she asked   
“Since I don’t know what kind of snake the venom was from or what kind of acid they used, I wouldn’t know where to begin to find a cure.” he said and that was the wrong answer since he watched as they both stiffened. Azura removed her hand from his shoulder.  
“This is my fault, all my fault.” she said with a shaky voice and she ran off trying not to cry but making it all the way to the river what was in the woods behind the Compound is where she finally broke down. Transforming into a silver-grey Timber wolf, she let out a mournful howl that was heard all the way at the Compound.   
“What was that?” Peter asked as the howling continued   
“She thinks my blindness is her fault.” Loki said  
“Why would she think that?” Natasha asked  
“I guess it’s because that she didn’t react fast enough.” Bruce said as he held a jar in his hand. Inside the jar, was burn medicine and Bruce was applying it to the area around Loki’s eyes when he heard another howl rip through the silence. Bruce was about to put some bandages on Loki’s eyes to make sure that the medicine would work but, the God of Mischief shook his head.  
“I can tell that the medicine is working.” he said and he carefully stood up so he can walk to the window. He knew that she was out there somewhere mentally beating herself up for something that wasn’t her fault.   
“FRIDAY, can you find out where she went?” Tony asked   
“Yes, Mr. Stark.” the AI said “She’s at the river that’s not far from here.” Tony knew where it was and he asked FRIDAY if there was a way to contact her. She had already transformed back into human form when FRIDAY was asked to find her. The AI located her and started calling her phone.   
“Hello?” she said picking up the phone when she heard “Shoot to Thrill” by AC/DC play  
“Please, come back. Running from something you couldn’t do anything about isn’t solving anything. It was not your fault and it never will be. I’m not mad darling that you weren’t fast enough to help me and maybe this pain is what I deserve but I would rather suffer with you than without you.” Loki said   
“I’m coming back and thank you, Loki.” she said  
“You’re welcome, love.” he replied and they hung up, a couple of minutes roll by and Bucky spotted a German Shepherd running towards them. Steve quickly opened the door and she bounded in with a bark. Loki knelt and she easily dove into his arms but while in midair, she transformed back into human form so she can hug him back. She felt something wet hit her shoulder and realized that he was still able to cry even though he couldn’t see. They left the room and started to look for a way to help Loki regain his eyesight. A week had passed and a thunderstorm was on the way, Azura had woken up in the middle of the night and the storm had just started. Azura changed her eyes to those of a dragon so she can see that Monica was on her way to the Compound.   
“Good, you showed up.” she said while behind her back, she was changing her fingernails into claws  
“I presume you have it?” Monica said and Azura held up a regular gem. Monica looked at the gem but she wasn’t expecting a sucker punch. The girls fought in the rain and the sounds of the fight had woken up the entire Compound. Monica took off since she didn’t want to take on the entire Avengers. Tony brought Azura inside so she can change clothes and take a warm shower to warm up.  
“What the hell was that?” Tony asked after she was done drying her hair  
“Monica showed up thinking that we had it.” she said  
“Had what?” Steve asked  
“The Elemental Stone, it grants whoever holds it the power to control the elements.” Stephen said and everybody looked at him for a second. Meanwhile, Monica didn’t realize that the stone she had in her hand was a fake. She knew that she had to make sure that her group found it before the Avengers did. The Avengers decided to go back to bed and get some sleep but Azura knew that she couldn’t go back to bed but after looking to see that her companion was deep asleep with his head on her shoulder, she finally fell asleep. The next morning, they were back to work but they couldn’t find anything.   
“This is getting nowhere.” Tony said after going through his third book  
“Wait, what if we had phoenix tears?” Peter asked and that made Azura look up.  
“What did you say?” Thor asked since he was voice of everyone’s confusion  
“In the second Harry Potter movie, there was a phoenix who healed Harry’s arm with its tears.” Peter said and suddenly Azura had an idea.  
“Well, we Animorphs can transform into an animal if we’ve seen it once.” she said  
“Are you saying that you can transform into this bird?” Steve asked and with a little concentration, she transformed into a phoenix with black and green plumage. She jumped onto the table from her seat and Peter was amazed at how amazing her feathers were. She ruffled her feathers for a second to get a feeling for something with feathers and not scales or fur. With one little leap, she landed on Loki’s shoulder and she guided him to the couch. She hovered for a second while he laid down before alighting on his chest. She cried a few tears for each eye and she watched as the area around his eyes were healing but she turned her head to the side waiting. He blinked a couple of times and Azura sat waiting to see those grey eyes change back to emerald green. He had his eyes closed for a moment which made Azura a little uneasy and was afraid that it didn’t work. She let out a worried chirp and ruffled her feathers.


	6. The Legend of the Stone

Loki finally opened his eyes and he saw that Azura was a beautiful black and green phoenix that was sitting on his chest looking at him with a worried look on her face. She hovered for another second as he sat up before landing on his knee. He turned to look at her and she gave a squawk of surprise to see that his eyes were now the emerald green that had always captivated her.   
“Hello, darling.” he said with one of his famous smiles  
“You can see now?” she asked  
“Yes, I can see now and I see that you make a beautiful phoenix.” he said and he turned to see that everyone was stunned to see that something that sounded stupid actually worked. Azura happily chirped and flew a few laps around the living room before alighting on Loki’s offered arm.   
“Well, good thing I had my Dux de Mythicos open and they say that Phoenix tears are a permanent fix to any injury.” Stephen said and his reply was a chirp from Azura.  
“Someone’s getting restless.” Tony joked playfully  
“No, I just want to get this stone and get this whole cult thing over with.” she said and she wasn’t the only one since Loki also had a score to settle with the cult.   
“As far as we know about the stone, it gives the one holding it the ability to control any element that’s known to man and it’s resting in Hamunaptra.” Stephen said and he looked around the room to see who would be going to the ancient city. Natasha fired up the Quinjet with Steve, Bucky, Stephen, Thor, Peter, and Loki hitching a ride while Tony was in his suit flying to the left with Azura, in her dragon form, flying to the right. They found a landing spot and looked around to see ruins of the city sprawled across the landscape.   
“This had to be impressive back in the day.” Natasha said and Azura nodded before taking to the sky to scout the area.   
“The area looks safe and I found a way in.” she said after she got back to report her findings. They found the door she was talking about and headed inside. She quickly transformed from dragon to tiger that way, they can walk through the place without being detected. The place was huge and they knew it was a bad idea to split up. Azura managed to catch a scent and started following it. The scent led her towards a statue of a rearing dragon with the Elemental Stone in its talons Why do I remember that scent? She thought as she got a closer look at the statue. She quickly dismissed the notion and got the Stone out of the dragon’s talons but turned to see the team running up to her.   
“You ok, Kid?” Tony asked as he looked around to see if there was anything that was going to attack them.   
“Yeah, I think so.” she said a little unsure and thought it was better to head home in the Quinjet since she was in human form. She sat on the floor the entire way and almost jumped out of her skin when Steve told her that they were home. What the hell is wrong with me? She thought as she walked into the Compound but decided to head into the training room and hooked herself up into her aerial yoga hammock. She flipped until she was hanging upside-down like a bat trying to think of why that scent was so familiar.   
“All the blood’s going to go to your head and you’re gonna pass out, hon.” a familiar voice said and she opened an eye to see that Bucky had joined her in the training room. She slowly flipped herself rightside-up to humor the super soldier. He knew something was wrong since she uses her aerial yoga for serious thinking or just wanting to calm down. “Do you want to talk about it?” Bucky asked and she knew that she couldn’t say no to him.  
“Sure, let me get out of this first.” she said and unhooked herself, she placed her feet on the ground and got two of the bean bags for her and Bucky to sit in.   
“What’s on your mind, doll?” Bucky asked and she knew that “doll” was a term of endearment like how Tony called her “baby girl” or how Peter called her “Sis”.   
“Ever since we got back from Hamunaptra something’s been bugging me and I can’t place it.” she said   
“You took off like you were possessed.” Bucky said  
“I was following a scent and it was familiar but at the same time new.” she said   
“What did it smell like?” he asked   
“Like midnight blooming jasmine and peaches.” she said remembering the smell  
“Could it have something to do with your parents?” Bucky asked   
“I don’t remember my parents.” she said sadly, what they didn’t know was that Thor and Loki were outside listening.   
“What happened out there?” Thor asked clearly confused about the whole thing  
“She must’ve caught a scent and followed it.” Loki said but hearing the part about her not knowing who her parents were almost broke his heart.   
“What did she say the smell was again?” Thor asked trying to remember  
“Midnight jasmine and peaches.” Loki said and they both looked at each other with shocked expressions when the realization hit them. They took off towards the backyard and asked for Heimdall to bring them home. They were still running when they landed in Asgard and made a straight shot for the palace. They caught their breath when they reached the palace doors and opened them to see that their parents were worried at the sudden arrival.   
“What’s wrong my sons?” Frigga asked   
“Azura said something that was a little shocking.” Thor said   
“Like what?” Odin asked definitely concerned since he grew to like her.  
“She said that she remembers a scent but has no idea where it comes from.” Loki said  
“What kind of scent was it?” Frigga asked   
“It was midnight jasmine and peaches.” Thor said and once Frigga looked at her husband, they realization hit them too.   
“Follow me my sons.” Odin said and even Frigga went with them, he led the way to a what looked like an underground vault but it was different to his treasure vault. In the middle of the room was a statue of a bronze dragon sitting with its front legs crossed and its wings folded against its sides.   
“This is the grave we had built when we heard the news.” Odin said   
“Who is the statue for, Mother?” Thor asked clearly impressed by the statue  
“This is Elsbeth, she was an Asgardian citizen who fell in love with a mortal named Martin.” she replied   
“Father, did they have any children?” Thor asked   
“Yes, a child that’s half-Asgardian and half-Midgardian and I believe you know her well.” Odin said and while it took Thor a second for it to click, Loki figured it out easily.  
“This is Azura’s mother?” he asked   
“Yes, we were not sure what happened to them but I believe Elsbeth is now part of the Midgardian constellation Draco the Dragon.” Frigga said and watched as her youngest walked up to the statue and placed a hand on the metal snout.   
“I promise that your daughter is in good hands and I will protect her with my life.” he vowed and he wanted to go back to the Compound to spend some time with his beloved. He said goodbye to everyone and asked Heimdall to take him home. Azura was lying on her back on the outside railing waiting for him to come back. The familiar light of the Bifrost caught her eye, she sat up to see that Loki had come back by himself.   
“Hello, darling.” he said with a smirk and she ran into his waiting arms, Loki looked over her shoulder to see that the team was worried.  
“I think I might be in trouble.” he said and she turned to see the team with worried looks on their faces. They got inside and went to sit down on the couch with Azura holding his hand for moral support.   
“We just wanted to know why two ran off in such a hurry is all.” Steve said trying not to act like a cop.  
“I overheard her talking to Barnes and when she mentioned the scent is when I realized that it was familiar to me as well.” Loki said while not letting go of her hand. “Thor and I headed back to Asgard to ask our mother about it.”   
“What did you find out?” Vision asked  
“There was a woman in Asgard that my mother visited when Thor and I were children but I didn’t realize that she went missing.” he said  
“Was there anything wrong with her?” Peter asked   
“I think she was sick and wasn’t able to take care of a child.” he said and it was now clicking for everyone.  
“Wait, there was a note when SHIELD took Azura in as a baby.” Clint said   
“So, the woman who went missing in Asgard and dropped me off at SHIELD was my mother?” Azura asked when the realization finally hit her.   
“Yes, her name was Elsbeth and she passed away from illness after she came back to Asgard.” Loki said   
“So, I’m half-Asgardian?” she asked and Loki nodded. “What about my dad?”   
“He was mortal and I’m not sure how he passed.” Loki said   
“You’re still my kid, no matter what.” Tony said as he sat down next to her  
“Thanks, Dad.” she said and hugged him with her other arm. Azura was now curious on what her limits were and when she remembered flying through that wormhole in her dragon form, she was able to survive in space. The next day, she wanted to test her limits since she knew that Asgardians had inhuman strength and endurance. She had decided to take on Thor as a sparring partner, he tried a simple punch but she stopped it with one hand. They were both shocked and she managed to block another punch. She was trying not to transform her nails into claws as she held him back, her eyes did glow gold and pushed off while the momentum lifted Thor off of his feet and she slammed him into the ground. She was a little horrified at what just happened but Thor was actually laughing.   
“Now, that was fun!” he said as he got to his feet.  
“There’s no way that I can fling you!” Azura said clearly freaking out and Loki went to comfort her but once he placed his hand on her shoulder, her body was so far into overdrive that she flung him over her shoulder. He should’ve drug her down with him but somehow he was light as a feather.   
“It’s alright, love.” he said “I’m alright, even though you did catch me off guard.” she calmed down and helped him up. They went inside to see that Stephen had placed a warding spell on the Elemental Stone and was walking into the living room.   
“The Stone is now protected and now we can come up with a plan to take out the cult.” he said and sat down in one of the chairs in the dining room. Peter decided to sit on the floor in front of the couch so he can throw in a couple of ideas if needed. He knew the biggest planners in the room were Tony, Steve, and Stephen but he knew that the others would come up with plans as well.   
“What we need to do first is find where they are located.” Steve said   
“Would be easy to find them if we had something of theirs.” Bruce said and that’s when Azura managed to fish out a piece of cloth from her pocket and held it up.  
“I managed to get this off of Monica when she and I had that fight in the rain.” she said and handed it to Stephen.   
“It will take some time to find them if they’re the kind to move from place to place.” he said and left. Tony looked around the room to see who would all go for the trip once the cult’s temple was located.   
“So, whose all going to fight them?” Tony asked knowing that some of others would stay behind to hold down the fort just in case the cult came knocking again.  
“I’m going.” Azura said   
“I’m going as well to settle a score.” Loki said with a sly grin  
“I’ll go.” Peter said almost tripping when trying to stand up.  
“I’m also going.” Wanda said and Natasha nodded. The home team was Sam, Vision, Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and Rhodey. After the teams were established, the team that was going to fight the cult decided to sharpen their skills. Wanda and Loki teamed up to see whose magic was better, Natasha teamed up with Peter, and Tony teamed up with Azura. They managed to call it for the day and waited for word from Stephen. The team was outside although Azura was in her dragon form, soaking up the sun’s rays with her wings. Her tail started to make a sound like a rattlesnake, letting everyone know that they were about to have company. Luckily it was only Stephen and she laid back down.   
“I found the cult and you’re not going to believe where their headquarters is.” Stephen said  
“Where?” Tony asked not sure if he was ready for the answer  
“Las Vegas.” Stephen said and Azura lifted her head up like she didn’t believe it.   
“Sin City? Seriously?” she asked before sitting on her haunches and Stephen nodded. The next day, the team was getting ready to go Las Vegas. Azura wasn’t sure about the whole thing.


	7. What Happens in Sin City, Stays in Sin City

The Las Vegas team wanted to take the Quinjet and they remembered that there was another one so if the home team was called, then they have a way to get there. The Vegas team landed on the outskirts of town to not draw any attention to themselves just yet. They made it to their hotel which Tony had made the reservations on the way there and his room was across from Azura and Loki’s. Azura found an emerald green dress that was floor length and put her hair up in a half ponytail that was braided. Everybody else got ready and headed to the first casino that was close to the hotel.   
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Vegas.” Tony said and Azura nodded. They got into the casino and split up. Peter and Wanda were given fake IDs so they can get in. Azura spied a group of girls not too far away from the bar and saw that they were talking to each other.   
Oh, here we go she thought as one of the girls headed their way.  
“Hi, there handsome.” she said “I’m Miranda, and I was wondering if you would like to join us.”   
Is this broad serious? Azura said and she snaked her arm around Loki’s waist hoping that the person would get the message.  
“Oh, I didn’t know that you were with someone.” the woman said and walked away.  
“Possessive are we?” Loki asked jokingly as they made their way to another part of the bar  
“I just don’t like people looking at what’s mine is all.” she said and Loki smiled knowing that he was happy to hear her say that he was hers. Peter had made his way to the buffet where he saw Azura and Loki heading his way and he knew something was up.  
“What happened?” he asked   
“Some floozy wanted to flirt with your brother.” she said and still had her arm around his waist. They walked out of that casino and decided to find a place to eat. Choosing an Italian place, the team managed to get a room to themselves so they can come up with a plan without being overheard. Tony had ordered lasagna, Natasha ordered chicken parmesan, Wanda ordered spaghetti, Peter got fettuccine alfredo with chicken, Azura got fettuccine alfredo but with a seafood mix, and Loki got the same thing as her.   
“Alright, does anyone have an idea on where they are?” Tony asked   
“I didn’t see anyone when we were in the casino.” Natasha said and Azura nodded, they paid for the meal and went back to the hotel.   
“I guess then we can get a lay of the land if we had eyes in the sky.” Tony said  
“I can do that a lot better at night.” Azura said and quickly transformed into a Peregrine falcon before flying to the window. She was waiting for nightfall so she wouldn’t be disturbed in her flight. She took to the air once night had fallen and soared above the city. The wind felt good over her feathers and she made a loop before heading back to the hotel.   
“Did you find anything?” Wanda asked as she landed in the room  
“I didn’t find anything that screams ‘cult headquarters’ and I made a loop.” she said and transformed back into human form. Tony could tell that she was upset with herself.  
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up baby girl.” he said “Get some sleep and we’ll try again in the morning.” she finally let sleep overtake her but Tony shook his head knowing that she fell asleep in his room. Loki picked her up and carried her to their room, he placed her on top of the bed and covered her with her favorite blanket. He wasn’t tired yet, so he watched her sleep for a bit before finally deciding to get some sleep. He pulled her close to him and was grateful that the blanket was big enough for the both of them.   
Peter woke up to hear someone knocking on his door and when he went to open it, he found Wanda in the doorway.   
“What’s going on Wanda?” he asked   
“Tony’s nowhere to be seen.” Wanda said and he had Wanda wake up Natasha while he went to wake up Azura and Loki.   
“Sis! Wake up!” he said trying to make sure that he was heard but he wasn’t disturbing anyone else. A sleepy God of Mischief answered the door and gave Peter a “I will kill you for waking me up this early in the morning” look   
“What’s with the racket?” Azura asked sleepily and she found Peter looking like a rabbit in the eyes of a fox.  
“Mr. Stark’s nowhere to be seen.” he said and Azura shook her head  
“If it’s early in the morning, then Dad’s probably looking for something to eat.” she said and now that she was awake, she decided to get dressed and find something to eat. She was right since Tony was sitting in a chair with a cup of coffee on the table and a newspaper in his hands.   
“Morning, kiddo.” he said   
“Morning, Dad.” she said and Tony scooted a second cup of coffee her way.  
“Let me guess, Peter started freaking out this morning?” he asked and his only reply was her eyes glowing gold for a second. He nodded and went back to his paper. The others joined them and they tried to come up with a strategy but they were still sleepy. What they didn’t know was that the cult was on their way to their hideout. Their headquarters was in the Luxor casino and their meeting place was in the basement. Tony decided that it was time to check in with Home team so he went outside to make the call. Wanda looked up just in time to see Monica walk in and tapped her fingers on the table twice to let the others know.   
“Dad, Monica’s here what do we do?” Azura asked once they got outside and she was in her black cat form.  
“Don’t do anything until I can get there.” he said after he gave the Home Team an update. Monica was temporarily stopped with one of Wanda’s illusions. They were safe in an alley and Azura was sitting on a Dumpster lid keeping a lookout. Tony had caught up with them.  
“Where is she?” he asked   
“Still in the restaurant as far as I know.” Wanda said   
“Guess again, sweetie.” Monica said and they all looked up to see her standing in the alleyway.   
“That should’ve worked.” Peter said while Azura jumped down from the Dumpster in her black panther form ready to strike if she got close.   
“I seriously thought that you had more forms than cats, honey.” Monica said trying to get a rise out of her. She growled a warning but Monica took another step forward.  
Screw this! She thought and charged forward but on the leap, she transformed into human form and gave her a right hook. She stumbled a little but the look of shock on her face said it all. Azura was starting to get used to having more power to her punches. The others also got in the fight and was about to win, when Monica swept Azura’s leg out from under her and got her in a lock. She knew, from sparring with Natasha, that you shouldn’t struggle when you’re in a lock. Transforming the base of her spine into a scorpion’s tail, she gave Monica a couple of stings but it didn’t work on the third sting since she heard a sickening pop but she got the third sting in. Monica convulsed and Azura rolled away but gripped her shoulder as Monica died.   
“Sis! Are you ok?” Peter asked as he went to check on her   
“Bitch dislocated my shoulder.” she said with a slight growl and he helped her up.   
“We need to set that before it gets any worse.” Tony said and she knew that he was right. She sat down and had Peter hold one side of her with Tony holding her the dislocated shoulder. Loki had summoned an extra cape to use a sling and held her hand.  
“Be ready cause this is going to hurt.” Tony said and she nodded. With a loud snap, her shoulder was back in place and Loki wrapped the arm in a sling using his cape. They got her back to the hotel and placed her on the bed.   
“Bed rest for now until that shoulder gets better.” Tony said and she nodded. Peter stayed long enough to hook up his Xbox so she could have something to do. She mainly just wanted to sleep so Loki helped her get situated and also found an extra pillow for her shoulder. She was asleep the minute her head touched the pillow. He didn’t want to disturb her so he fell asleep on the couch that was in the room. She did call his name in her sleep and he woke up knowing that the tone in her voice meant she wanted him next to her. He laid down next to her and fell back asleep while holding her hand. Up in the night sky, the constellation Draco twinkled for a second before dimming although Wanda saw it and wondered what it meant.   
Morning came and the others decided to let the two sleep for a little bit longer.  
“I saw something weird last night.” Wanda said  
“What was it?” Natasha asked   
“You’ve heard of the constellation Draco right?” she asked and her friends nodded “It twinkled for like a second.” and she showed them what she saw.   
“I’ve never saw that happen before.” Tony said   
“I wonder what it could mean.” Peter said in wonderment and looked up to see that Loki was awake and he was getting some food for Azura to eat when she woke up. Tony couldn’t help but smile knowing that his daughter was in good hands.  
“I’m pretty happy that she had found someone to be a part of her life.” he said and he knew that the God of Mischief was grinning from ear to ear knowing that someone that cared for him besides his sleeping girlfriend. He was quiet as a mouse when he got back to their hotel room to see that she was still sleeping peacefully. She looks like an angel when she sleeps, not a care in the world and I know that I will do anything to make sure that she’s safe from anything that tries to harm her he thought remembering the vow he made to Elsbeth’s statue. He set the plate of food down just as she was starting to wake up.  
“Where did you go?” she asked sleepily  
“I went to get you some food, love.” he said and he started to feed her. He knew that she could do it on her own but he wanted to take care of her. He did split a cheese danish with her.  
“That was good, thanks babe.” she said   
“You’re welcome, darling.” he said and he turned at the sound of knocking on the door.   
“We found them.” Tony said and Azura took her arm out of the sling since it healed while she slept so she was ready for a fight. The team got to the Luxor and was surprised that there was no one in the lobby but the casino was busy as usual. They found the elevator and took it to the basement of the building. The basement looked ordinary but they found a set of stairs leading further down. Tony got into the MK XLVII armor, Azura transformed into her Raptor form, Peter got into his Spider-Man suit, and Loki changed into his Asgardian armor before they walked down the steps.  
The cult knew that they were coming and the team got ready for a fight. Azura made a huge leap and tackled one to the ground before sinking her teeth into the person’s neck. Natasha fought some off and used her stingers on a few others. The leader was still trying to finish his ritual but hearing a growling Raptor behind him, made him turn around.   
“This ends now.” Tony said and held up his repulsors to make sure the guy got the point. The cult members that were still alive knew that a fight was lost and they took off. Peter had seen that the cult was trying to offer captured spirits to the statue of their deity and he set the spirits loose. The cult leader was about to attack Peter but he was stopped when Azura turned him into a chew toy. She transformed back just in time to see one of the spirits starting to take shape. It was in the shape of a dragon at first but then it started to take on a more human appearance. It was a woman dressed in Asgardian clothes with her chestnut brown hair up in a ponytail. Tony was shocked to see that one of them decided to stay.  
“Hello, everyone.” the spirit said and then she spotted Azura “Hello, my dear.”   
“How do you know me?” Azura asked   
“I’m your mother Elsbeth.” the spirit said and Azura couldn’t believe that she was looking at her mother. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.”   
“Thanks.” Azura said and Elsbeth spotted Loki standing next to Azura.  
“I’ve heard your vow, Loki Laufeyson and I would hold you to it.” she said and he nodded. She disappeared before their eyes and Azura felt a touch of sadness.  
“Goodbye, Mom.” she said and Loki held her close. They headed back to the Compound, glad to be back from Sin City. Azura was acting a little off ever since getting back but that was due to meeting her mom and to clear her head, she decided to do some aerial yoga.   
“There you are, love.” Loki said as he found her  
“Sorry, I needed clear my head.” she said and turned herself rightside-up so she can get out.   
“I have a question for you actually.” Loki said and she gave him an understanding look. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”   
“Yes, a thousand times yes!” she said and she was so enthusiastic that she tackled him to the floor.  
“Nice tackle, love.” he said laughing a little   
“I’m still getting used to this Asgardian strength, I guess.” she said sheepishly and she helped him up. The next couple of days, they started to plan and they decided to have a Halloween themed wedding. Tony was happy for the two of them and when he heard a Halloween themed party, he was over the moon. Loki told him his idea of arriving in a coffin since he was going to dress a vampire. Tony got his height measurements and went to get a coffin that he would fit in. Azura was looking for dresses and she even had Natasha and Wanda help her look for the right one. This was going to be the best day of her life and she was going to have a blast.


	8. A Halloween Wedding

The day finally arrived and so did the coffin. Luckily, there was little questions asked about it. Everybody was getting ready. Tony, Steve, Bucky, and Rhodey were getting the decorations ready to go and while they were doing that Peter, Wanda, Stephen, and Scott were busy making the arches. Peter had found black and orange flowers and placed them on the arches with some webbing and he even added more webbing here and there. Steve and Bucky had placed the tables on the other side of the arches so everyone could have a spot to sit for the reception. I can't believe my little girl’s getting married! Tony thought happily as he started putting the plates and the cutlery on the tables after Rhodey had put the table cloths on them. The table cloths were black but had dancing skeletons on them, the plates had bats on them and the cutlery were clear plastic which was going to make clean up a breeze once the reception was over.  
Natasha and Clint were sent to get a bottle of champagne and they were in luck cus there was a strawberry flavored one and they got four bottles to make sure that there was enough. Azura was out with Pepper and Happy to find her a dress. Happy usually had a grumpy look on his face, but when he heard that Azura was getting married he was head over heels. Happy got along with Loki very well and he knew that Tony's little girl was in good hands. Pepper found a black and purple dress with flowers that was low cut and it was floor length. It was easy for her to move around in and they knew that this was the right one. They headed back to the Compound and they managed to sneak her in the back door. Wanda and Shuri were waiting in Wanda’s room for them to knock on the door. Meanwhile, Thor was in Asgard to tell his parents about the wedding.  
Frigga was excited while Odin showed a little dislike. They did say that they will be there and Thor headed back to Earth so he can ready. Natasha had returned and went to help getting the bride ready. Shuri was helping Azura get into her dress while Natasha was going to do her makeup and Wanda was going to do her hair. The girls froze when they heard a knock on the door and Natasha went to the door. She made sure that Azura was out of sight before answering the door. She opened it to see that it was only Steve.  
“Steve, you nearly gave us a heart attack.” she said  
“Sorry, I just wanted to let you guys know is that the decorations are ready to go.” he said  
“Thanks for letting us know.” Natasha said  
“How’s our bride looking Nat?” he asked  
“She’s getting there, you’ll see her when she heads down the aisle.” she said and closed the door after Steve left. He went to get changed and he saw Bucky already changed and trying to keep Tony from busting the door down. The light from the Bifrost came down and it showed that the Warriors Three, Sif, Heimdall, Frigga, and Odin had arrived.  
“Is this everyone?” Stephen asked as he and Wong had walked outside to check on everything  
“Yeah, Sis is getting ready.” Peter said and he knew that Loki wanted to see her but he had told him about it being bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony. Loki was wearing an all black suit and he was practicing getting in and out of the coffin. He had Peter help him with the fangs even though he could make his teeth become fangs anyway. Shuri came running outside and grinned.  
“Showtime!” she said and headed back inside. Natasha, Wanda, Shuri, and Sif had got in their positions while Steve, Bucky, Peter, and Scott took their places. Bruce, Thor, Tony, Volstagg, and Fandral had taken their places next to the coffin and carried it, with Loki inside, to the altar. They stood it up and Loki stepped out and stood in front of Stephen. Thor and Fandral took the coffin away and took their places. Tony headed inside to see that Azura was waiting with Rhodey and Pepper.  
“Ready, baby girl?” Tony asked and he took her arm “You look beautiful.”  
“Thanks, Dad.” she said and they stepped outside.  
“Oh, my God.” Peter whispered and Azura smiled knowing that was a compliment from her little brother. Odin wanted to know what grabbed the youngest Avenger’s attention and he smiled.  
“Brother, she is a vision.” Thor said and Loki turned to see Azura walking towards them. His heart skipped a beat to see that his brother was right. They stopped in front of Stephen.  
“Who is to give this woman away?” Stephen asked  
“I, Anthony Edward Stark, give this woman away.” Tony answered and he hugged her before taking his place next to Peter.  
“You look absolutely beautiful my love.” Loki said and she blushed a deep red.  
“Friends and family, we are here to unite these two in holy matrimony.” Stephen said and he looked at Loki before continuing “Loki, do you take this woman to be your wife in sickness and health until death claims you?”  
“I do.” he said and Stephen looked at Azura  
“Azura, do you take this man to be your husband in sickness and health until death claims you?” he asked.  
“I do.” she replied  
“Then by the powers vested in me by the Mystic Arts, I pronounce you husband and wife.” he said “You may kiss the bride.” They didn’t need to be told twice as they embraced each other for a kiss. They broke the kiss and turned around so they were facing the Compound.  
“I present Mr. and Mrs. Loki Laufeyson!” Stephen said and the newlyweds went to the table to cut the cake. Loki stood behind Azura and placed his hands on the top of hers as he helped her slice into the cake. She got a piece ready but she sneak attacked him by smearing icing on his face. He did get her back and they got cleaned up so they can have the reception. Azura was dancing with Loki for the newlyweds first dance. She then danced with Tony and Loki was dancing with Frigga. They switched parents so Loki was dancing with Pepper and Azura was dancing with Odin.  
“You look beautiful, my dear.” the All-Father said  
“Thank you.” she said and they went to sit down. Tony waited for everyone to sit down and he poured himself a glass of champagne before standing up.  
“To be honest, if you told me that I was going to be a father I would’ve told you that you were insane.” he said “But here I am and I’m proud of the woman that my daughter has become, love you sweetheart.”  
“Love you too, Dad.” Azura said as he went to sit down as Thor stood up with a grin on his face.  
“This is oughta be good.” Peter said as he was sitting next to Azura and he quickly gave her a hug. “I’m happy for you Sis.” he said and she placed a kiss on the top of his head.  
“Thanks, Peter.” she said and patted his shoulder. She knew that she would do anything for the youngest Avenger. Thor stopped his grinning.  
"I'm surprised that someone as weaselly as my brother found a person to call his own." he said and Loki shook his head “But I am glad that person is one that I can call family.” he went to go sit down and watched as Azura and Loki lightly butted their heads together. Peter looked at Tony, who nodded, and the young Avenger stood up.  
“I’m a little nervous but I just want to say that I’m happy for my big sister and welcome to the family Loki.” he grinned and went to sit back down. Frigga stood up but she walked over to them and embraced them in a hug.  
“I’m happy for you, my son and welcome to our family my dear.” she said  
“Thank you, Mother.” Loki said  
“Thank you too Mom.” Azura said and Frigga only chuckled. Tony handed them plane tickets for a honeymoon in Paris. Steve had the door open and watched as Loki carried her over the threshold and all the way to their room so they could grab their bags. Happy took them to the airport where their private jet was waiting for them.  
“Have fun, kiddo.” Happy said as he gave her a hug. They boarded the plane and headed across the pond. They landed in Paris and headed towards their cabin that wasn’t too far away from the city. They put their luggage down and just wanted to enjoy each other’s company. Azura noticed that there was a fridge in the kitchen but she wasn’t expecting it to be full of food. “What the?” she asked herself and noticed that a letter was saying that were was a supply of food due to all the people using the cabin and was refreshed. She cooked dinner for the two of them and she was impressed at her own cooking skills. Loki helped her clean up after dinner and they even danced a little in the living room. They fell asleep holding one another and didn’t wake up until the sun rose the next morning. They decided to do some sightseeing in the city and stayed all day. Loki and Azura had returned to their little cabin after seeing the sights of Paris and it was a little chilly so they lit the fireplace to keep warm. She sat down in the chair and Loki stood behind her rubbing her shoulders and started kissing her neck. She started purring in pleasure. “Shall we take this to the bed my little kitten?” Loki asked huskily as she stood up and he led her to the bed. She giggled a little as her back hit the bed and Loki quickly climbed onto the bed. They shared a kiss while their hands explored one another. Their touches got hungrier and the kisses got needier as they wanted the other. They finally became one and were in complete bliss. She woke up the next morning to find that their clothes were thrown about the bedroom and she remembered the night before. They got ready to leave and Azura felt a little uneasy in her stomach but it went away just as quickly as it came. What the hell was that? She thought as she got onto the plane. They made it home and unpacked. Azura felt that little twinge of pain again and she looked at her calendar and something wasn’t adding up. While Loki was sleeping due to jet lag, she left him a note saying that she would be back and went to look for a tag along. She knew that Thor won’t keep a secret to save his life so he was out of the question. She was a little unsure of telling her dad even though she knew he wouldn’t have a problem with it. Picking up her car keys, she was about to go alone when she saw a flicker of a familiar red light. “Hey, Wanda.” she said “Hey, need some company?” Wanda asked “I would love some company.” Azura said and they headed towards her Land Rover so they can make it to the city. They found the nearest pharmacy and she bought a pregnancy test. They headed back and she used Wanda’s bathroom. The test showed positive and she realized that the twinges of pain were her being late on her cycle. “Are you ok, hon?” Wanda asked and Azura held up the test to show her friend the result. Wanda couldn’t believe her eyes and now Azura was dreading on how to tell Loki since she knew about his fatherly issues. Wanda could tell that something was on her friend’s mind and tilted her head to the side. “I’m a little nervous telling Loki since I’m not sure on how he would react to the news.” Azura said. “I’m sure that he would be happy to hear the news.” Wanda said and she saw that Azura was thinking of a plan to tell him. She went to check on him and found that he was still asleep. Tilting her head to the side, she was focusing on a sound and found that he was listening to the Sweeney Todd movie soundtrack and it was on “A Little Priest” before she turned it off and covered him with a blanket. She headed out of the room and came up with a plan on how to tell him. She found her dad in the lab and headed up there. Tony looked up to see that he had company and smiled. “Hey, baby girl. How was Paris?” he said “Hey, Dad. Paris was beautiful.” she replied and went to sit down. “Is everything ok?” he asked “Yes and no.” she said and then he sat down. “What’s up?” he asked “I’m pregnant and I don’t know how to tell Loki.” she said and Tony’s eyes widened at the news. She knew that he was happy that he was going to be a grandfather. Loki finally woke up and saw that Azura was sitting near the window holding a box in her hand. He sat down next to her and she handed him the box. He opened it to see that it was a pregnancy test that was saying positive. He looked at the test and to her and then back to the test. She knew that he was putting two and two together. “I’m going to be a father?” he asked “Yep.” she said and he embraced her in a hug happy to hear the news. He was always by her side when she went to her checkups and even helped her when morning sickness hit. When they were called on missions, he always stayed home to help her. The day he felt the twins kick, he almost broke down in tears. He was blessed twice, once when he married the love of his life and now starting a family, and he was about to be blessed a third time when she told him that her water broke. Stephen and Bruce got the medical rooms ready for delivery. Bruce told Loki that he could be in the room with her while Tony had to wait outside. Finally, the twins were born and the God of Mischief broke down in tears as he held his newborn daughter; Frigga Elsbeth. Azura was holding their son, Vali Fandral, when she saw her husband crying. Thor came to see the newborns but he wasn’t expecting to see them all sleeping. Azura was asleep to regain her strength and Loki was asleep after feeding the twins with little Frigga on his chest. Thor covered them with blankets and decided to see them once they were awake, he told Tony to be careful and not make any loud noises so the newborns can sleep in peace.


	9. The Start of Something New

Loki woke up to see that someone had covered him with a blanket and looked to see that his wife was still asleep but holding Vali. He looked down to see that Frigga was asleep in his arms. He stood up and placed a light kiss on Azura’s forehead to wake her up. Bruce came in to see that they were awake.   
“Morning you guys.” he said  
“Morning, Bruce.” Azura said   
“How are the little ones?” Stephen asked   
“Still asleep for now.” Loki replied before Tony and Thor walked in. Tony had a look of amazement on his face when he saw his grandchildren. Thor was a mix of happiness and confusion since he didn’t know how to react to seeing his newborn niece and nephew. Everyone else got to meet them before it was time to move the babies to their room. Wanda and Vision had put together a crib so the babies had a place to sleep.   
“So, what’s your plan on feeding them?” Stephen asked and it caught Azura off guard for a second.  
“I guess a mix.” she said and Natasha had come in with a pump. Azura could see the confused look on Loki’s face.   
“It’s a pump that collects breast milk and luckily Nat found one that had two pumps.” she said and hooked herself up to it after making sure that everyone, except her family, was in the room. She had collected enough milk to fill two bottles and looked at Loki who was still a daze.  
“Do you want to feed one of the twins?” she asked   
“I would love to.” he said and he picked up little Frigga but he wasn’t unsure of what to do, so he watched as Azura picked up Vali and once she settled him in her arms, she tilted the bottle and he started drinking. Loki did the same thing with Frigga and he was acting like he was in 7th Heaven. He looked to see that night had fallen and knew it was time to put the little ones to bed. Azura sung a short version of “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd as a lullaby for the kids and as she was putting Vali in the crib, Loki was putting Frigga in the crib. They tucked them in and he wrapped his arm around Azura’s waist pulling her close.   
“We did good love, we did good.” Loki said as he rested his head on his wife’s shoulder. They decided to go to sleep knowing that the twins will be nearby just in case. It was in the middle of the night when little Frigga started to fuss. Loki was up the minute he heard the noise, he walked over to the crib and picked up his daughter.   
“Sssh, my little one it’s alright. Daddy’s here.” he cooed and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Azura was awake.   
“You look so handsome holding her.” she joked and he cracked a smile. He put Frigga back in the crib and he crawled back in bed. When the twins turned three, life at the Compound was more livelier. The sound of children’s laughter rang throughout the place. It was Tony chasing his three-year-old granddaughter, who was playfully screaming.   
“Daddy! Save me! Save me!” Frigga playfully called and ran into her father’s waiting arms  
“I’ll save you my Princess.” he playfully said while running from Tony. Tony gave up knowing that he couldn’t keep up with the Asgardian and he had to go sit down. Loki found a spot to sit down and Frigga looked up at him.  
“Daddy?” she said  
“Yes, my dear?” he asked   
“I love you.” she said and hugged her father, he hugged her back   
“I love you too, my little one.” he said and heard Vali running up to him wanting to join in on the hug. Loki lightly chuckled as he hugged his son.  
“I love Dad too!” he said  
“I love you too, Vali.” he replied “I will protect you two and your mother with my life.”   
“Just as I would protect the both of you and your father with my life.” Azura said   
“I will also protect you and your parents no matter what.” Thor said making his sister-in-law jump a little.   
“Thank you, Thor.” she said and he nodded knowing that his family is in safe hands. Thor looked at his brother and knew that the twins would have to meet their paternal grandparents soon. Azura checked out the window and saw that a thunderstorm was coming and yet she knew that it wasn’t Thor being upset. The storm had finally hit and once they were in bed reading, they heard the door being opened to see Frigga and Vali running into the room. The next morning, Azura woke up to see that a box was in their room and she opened it to reveal an outfit similar to Loki’s but the colors were switched. This new outfit was her Asgardian armor and she liked the way it felt on her. Thor was waiting in the backyard for them since the kids were eating breakfast.  
He summoned the Bifrost and they were swept away to Asgard. They arrived and Frigga was taken aback for the beauty of the place and was even surprised to see her uncle and father in their Asgardian armor.   
“Greetings, little ones.” Heimdall said causing them both to jump. Azura giggled and the Princes finally turned to see her in her armor and Loki’s eyes widened.   
“You look pretty Momma.” Vali said   
“Thank you, V.” she said and they headed towards the palace. Loki couldn’t believe that his wife had gotten Asgardian armor although her breast plate was a dragon’s head. The guards let them in and they got to the throne room. Vali held onto Azura’s hand while Frigga was holding onto her father’s.   
“Mother, Father hello.” Thor said  
“Hello, everyone.” Frigga said and the twins ran behind their parents while little Frigga was holding onto her father’s cape and peeking out. The twins finally came out of hiding but they weren’t unsure on how to act.   
“Hello, little ones.” Frigga said   
“Hello.” Odin said. Little Frigga looked to her parents for help and they encouraged them to say hello.   
“Hello.” little Frigga said finally   
“Hello.” Vali said a second later. Odin beckoned Azura to come closer and embraced her in a hug.   
“You look beautiful in armor, my dear.” he said and she smiled.   
“Thank you.” she said and saw that big Frigga was also hugging Loki. Odin had said that there was going to be a special dinner just for the royal family. Azura had a feeling that this was going to end in disaster. She was in Loki’s room getting ready when she heard the door open.   
“You look amazing, darling.” Loki said with a smile and it was cause she was wearing an Asgardian dress that was a forest green.   
“Thanks, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?” she asked   
“What do you mean?” he asked as he led her to their bed so they can sit down and talk.  
“I have feeling that history is going to repeat itself and Odin is going to favor one sibling over the other.” she said. Loki looked at the door for a second before looking back at his wife. He stood up just to kneel in front of her. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.  
“I promise you, that will never happen.” he said and he helped her stand up.  
“You are too good for me Loki Laufeyson.” she said with a grin  
“That’s because you make me a better person.” he said with one of his famous smirks. They headed to join the others only to see Thor playing with Vali. Dinner was served a minute later and Azura’s worries went away instantly. She joined in the jokes and shared some battle stories. It was time to put the twins to bed and Azura wanted to share some of her likes with her children, but she knew that she would have to wait until they were older. She was still awake and she got an idea. She found Thor polishing Mjolnir while Loki was reading.  
“I can’t sleep.” she said “But I have an idea.” the boys looked up to show that they were listening.  
“What’s on your mind, my friend?” Thor asked   
“Let’s see who would win in a race.” she said. They headed out to the gate and Heimdall had heard about their need for a race. Heimdall explained that the race was down the Rainbow Bridge to the throne room and then back. Thor was excited since he wanted to see what his sister-in-law could do. She thought of a form that could win easily and decided to go with her Velociraptor form.  
“Begin!” Heimdall barked and they took off. Azura was in the lead but was soon passed by Thor.   
Oh, hell no! She thought and then transformed back into human form and then into a cheetah. She blazed by him again but she wasn’t expecting to be passed by her husband. She dug in and managed to catch up. Blazing into the throne room, she turned around and headed back. She knew that Loki was right behind her and when she blazed by Thor, he almost tripped trying to turn to see her run by him. With the Observatory in sight, she was neck and neck with Loki but in one final burst of speed she won the race. She transformed back into human and slumped against the wall.   
“That was the closest race I’ve ever seen.” Heimdall said and laughed when he saw Thor flop onto the ground. The three of them caught their breath and decided it was time to call it a night. Thor helped her onto Loki’s horse, she held on a little tight since she wasn’t used to being on a horse or on an Asgardian horse for that matter. Thor took off but Loki kept a steady pace to help her get used to the animal. They made it to the royal quarters and were in a spare room before completely crashing on the bed. Morning had come and big Frigga was looking for the others and saw that they were in a pile. Thor had managed to not only wrap his arm around Loki but also Azura as if protecting them from the front. Azura was in the middle and woke up when she heard her mother-in-law laughing.   
“Good morning.” she said   
“Morning.” Azura replied and then the boys woke up. They ate breakfast and the twins hugged their grandparents goodbye before heading back to Earth. They got back to the Compound and saw that Peter was playing on her Xbox and he was playing Okami HD which immediately piqued Frigga’s curiosity and sat down next to him to watch him play. Vali also wanted to see what was going on and watched Peter play.   
“I think we have two future gamers.” Azura joked as she watched them. She managed to spy Tony in his lab and asked him to help Loki keep an eye on the kids while she and Peter headed into town. Peter was excited to get out of the Compound and spend some time with his big sister. They headed into town and found the shopping center. They headed inside and found the GameStop.   
“I’m going to the game section while you can look for a PS4 that’s at least 2 Terabytes in memory.” Azura said and off they went. She managed to find Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far and put down a pre-order for Kingdom Hearts III she knew that the games were easy for the twins. Peter found a PS4 that she was looking for and she paid for the console and the game. They were going to head back but Peter wanted to go to the bookstore. She knew that he didn’t get to hang out with her all that often now being married and a mother. She knew that their time was going to get cut shorter when the twins started their training as future rulers of Asgard. He looked around and saw guides for the games. She got the guides and they were out and on their way home.   
Azura’s phone started ringing and it was playing “Shoot to Thrill”.  
“Hey, Dad.” she said   
“Would you two mind picking up some food on the way home?” he asked  
“Yeah, just let me know what everyone would like and I’ll go get it.” she said  
“Ok. I would say just bring enough food.” he joked and hung up. They decided to get four of the KFC family meals that way there would be enough. They headed back to the Compound with the food and honked to let them know that they were home. Peter took the bag that had the game and console in it and took it inside while Azura had the bag that the guides were in so Tony and Steve could grab the bags of food. Dinner was served and Azura let the twins stay up long enough for their PS4 be set up.   
“Thank you, mom.” they said  
“You’re welcome and you should thank your Uncle Peter too.” Azura said   
“Thank you, Uncle Peter!” they said   
“You’re welcome guys.” Peter said with a grin and he even put the kids to bed. Azura was changing clothes when she noticed an old scar. She remembered that it was from the fight against Ivan Vanko. She quickly hid it but from looking in the mirror, she noticed that Loki saw it.   
“Don’t hide it, darling.” he said “Where did you get it?”  
“It was during a fight with a person named Whiplash.” she said he led her to their bed and held her close while he was lightly caressing the scar. She fell asleep with her head on his chest within minutes. He smiled before placing a kiss on the top of her head and he fell asleep making sure that she was still by his side during the long night.


End file.
